Badger (Taxidea taxus)

This member of the weasel family lives in the prairies and high plains
of the western and Midwestern United States. A snarling feisty animal
the badger is a match for most other carnivores save the mountain lion
and bear. The badger fur is long and dense in a gray brown color
with a white stripe running down its back. A squat animal only about ten
inches high and thirty plus inches long it looks like a moving dust mop when
walking among the tall grasses. It is a terror to ground dwelling rodents
for it can out dig most of these creatures and is a virtual dust storm when
clawing out their burrows. Their front claws are around an inch long and
they rip the dirt and rocks apart while their hind feet shove the debris
away in a cloud. It loves to dig and because of that it has a voracious
appetite, it will eat anything from rodents to carrion and sometimes will
dig a hole and sleep under a large dead animal just to keep others away.

In past years men would bait and trap a badger, place it in an open
barrel and turn dogs against the animal. The badger would back into
the barrel and snarl and fight the dogs, hence came the usage to
"badger" or harass.

Badger (Taxidea taxus)

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A few facts concerning the badger.

The best paint brushes and shaving brushes were badger fur.

Most of the famous old masters used badger brushes for their work.

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